Emily held Bella for a while and then they went out of the room to have breakfast. When they walked out Derek was on his way there again.
"Good morning" Derek said smiling proudly at Emily.
"Good morning" Emily said with a confused look. She didn't know why he was smiling like that. Bella walked to Derek and hugged him.
"There are some pancakes waiting for you" he smiled and let go of the hug.
Bella and Emily walked to the kitchen and sat to eat. Derek sat with them and a little while after Penelope also joined.
"I finished Gavin's gift yesterday" Derek said.
"Thanks" Bella smiled.
"Now we just need to get that watch you said he wants" Derek said and she nodded.
"So when is the party?" Emily asked.
"Next Thursday at 4" Derek said.
"Oh! Colette texted to let me know it's a pool party" Penelope said excited and everyone smiled.
Emily had noticed Derek smiling at her during breakfast, so when Penelope went to change and Bella said she was going to shower and left, she had to ask him why.
"Is everything okay?" Emily asked him.
"Yeah" he said finishing his coffee.
"Why are you smiling at me like this?" She asked.
"Oh" he said smiling. "I heard you talking to her this morning." He said and Emily looked a bit serious. "I'm sorry. I was going to wake you guys up and you were talking. It was too adorable not to stop to hear" he said and Emily smiled. "You're amazing with her" he added and Emily blushed.
Suddenly Garcia walked in.
"We gotta go" she said and Derek stood up.
"Anything just call" Derek told Emily and she nodded.
"Bye bye mama bear" Penelope said and they left.
Emily finished her coffee and then went and filled Lulu's and Sergio's food bowl. The dog ran there while the cat stayed asleep on the couch.
"Good girl" Emily petted Lulu's back as the dog ate.
She stood up and headed to her daughter's bedroom. She changed her clothes and then sat on the bed. Suddenly Isabella's phone rang. Emily picked it up from the nightstand and it was Jeremy.
"Hello" she said.
"Emily?" Jeremy asked a bit surprised.
"Hi. It's me" Emily said.
"Hi. Umm Bella texted me asking if I knew. I wasn't sure what she was talking about so I called Derek and he just told me you were back" Jeremy explained.
Before Isabella went to shower she stopped in her room and texted her brother. She wanted to know if he knew about it too.
"Yeah. It's been a few days. I'm sorry no one called to let you know but you can imagine how things are around here" Emily said.
"Is she doing okay with all of this?" He asked.
"She's alright. Better than what I expected, if I'm being honest" Emily said.
"She's not mad at you, is she?" Jeremy asked.
"She was for little while but I think she gets it now" Emily said.
"Good"
"Don't worry. I'm here now and she'll be okay" Emily said.
"I know she will." Jeremy said and Emily smiled. "And your friends did an amazing job with her" he added.
"They did" Emily smiled.
There was a bit of silence and then Jeremy said "do you think I should tell her that I knew or...?"
"Tell her. The lying needs to stop Jeremy" Emily said.
"I agree" he said. He did agree but he was scared Bella was going to be mad at him too.
Emily could hear in his voice that he was a bit scared.
"Do you want me to tell her?" Emily asked.
"Would you do that?" Jeremy asked.
"Of course" she said. "Maybe it's best. I'll explain everything to her"
"I'd like that" he said letting out a deep breath.
Suddenly Emily heard Bella turning the shower off.
"She finished showering. I gotta go" she said.
"Okay." Jeremy said. "I'm really glad you're back" he said.
"Me too" Emily smiled. "Bye"
"Bye" he said and they hung up.
Emily put the phone down on the bed and just sat there waiting for the girl.
Bella got dressed and went to her bedroom to find Emily there.
"Is everything okay?" Bella asked when she saw Emily looked a bit serious.
"Come here baby" Emily said and Bella walked to the bed and sat right in front of her mother.
Emily went on and explained that Jeremy knew the truth. Bella was a bit upset with that but when Emily told her that he had to know in order for her to stay with Derek and Penelope she stopped crying and was more understanding of it.
"I'm sorry about all the lying. You know it was necessary to keep us safe" Emily said.
Bella looked up and just nodded.
"Come here" Emily said and Bella sat next to her mother who wrapped her arms around the girl. They stayed there for a while and then Bella checked the time on her phone and said she needed to study a bit more for her tests so she went to her desk and Emily went to the living room. She got her phone and tried to schedule a doctor's appointment for 1:30, which was the time Bella would be in school, but they only had one spot available at 3 so she took that and decided to just take the girl with her. Then she got the laptop and sat in the living room to look for a few more houses while Bella studied.
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At 1:10pm Emily drove Bella to school. The girl looked really nervous again but Emily knew she'd be okay. Once they got there, Emily walked in with the girl and wished her good luck. Bella walked to her classroom and Emily waited in the hall.
About an hour later, Isabella walked out looking really pale. Emily noticed that and couldn't help but look worried.
"Are you okay?" She asked the girl who just wrapped her arms around her mother's waist.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked.
"Nothing. Let's just go" Bella said. She felt the same way she did the day before. She felt like something bad was about to happen.
Emily let go of the hug and stared at her daughter.
"What happened?" She asked but got no answer. "Did you feel the same way you did yesterday?" She asked and Bella nodded wiping a few tears that escaped.
"Let's get that healing ice cream again then" Emily said with a small smile and the girl couldn't help but smile too. It was there for just a second but Emily saw it and smiled even bigger. "Let's go" she said throwing one arm around Isabella's shoulders.
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At the ice cream place Emily checked the clock and it was 2:45. She had to go to her doctor's appointment.
"Bella, I have a little check-up today. Do you mind going with me?" Emily asked.
"To the hospital?" Bella asked not sounding very happy.
"Yes" Emily said. Bella looked down as she thought about it.
"It's just for me." Emily said.
"Okay" Bella said and Emily gave her a little smile.
They finished eating and headed to the clinic.
Emily noticed Isabella looked extremely nervous when they walked inside. The girl had a tight grip on her hand and was walking a step behind.
"It's okay, Bell" Emily said giving the girl's hand a squeeze. She went to the front desk and the lady sent her to an exam room. Emily sat down on a chair and pulled Bella to her lap.
"Mom" Bella said as she started to feel sick.
"It's okay. Just breathe. They're going to look at me. Not you. It's okay" Emily said running her hand on her daughter's back.
Suddenly the doctor walked in and for their surprise it was Sarah Sullivan.
"Umm I schedule with a general" Emily said a bit confused as Bella hugged her tighter.
"Oh I am one." Sullivan said with a smile. "Good to see you" she added and Emily smiled. The doctor had learned that Emily was alive from Garcia who let her know two days before that appointment. The doctor had become friends with Penelope.
"Hi Bella" the woman said but Bella didn't look up.
Sarah noticed the girl was breathing quite heavily.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"She's a little nervous" Emily said trying to make Bella let go of the hug and sit up straight but failing.
"Honey we are here for your mom today. Not you. There's no reason for you to be scared" Doctor Sullivan said but Bella didn't even move.
"Emily, can you sit on the exam table please?" she said.
Bella let go and Emily got up. Bella quickly sat back on the chair and kept trying to take deep breaths.
"So do you have any concerns or...?" Sarah said and Emily started talking about things. She mentioned back pain and some other things and the doctor wrote everything down. Both women couldn't help but feel concerned about how Bella was in there. The kid was struggling.
Sarah looked at Emily and Emily clearly looked like she was feeling bad. Sarah kneed down in front of Bella and said "you like to read, don't you?"
Bella looked up at her, finding it strange that she was asking her that.
"We have a small library here. Do you want to go check it out?" She asked.
Bella shook her head no and looked at Emily. Her eyes filled too much and tears started falling. Emily got out of the exam table and hugged the girl. "It's okay, B. It's alright" she kept saying.
"Do you want to wait outside sweetheart?" The doctor asked and Bella nodded yes.
The girl had a few check-ups since it all happened and most of them did not go well. She just hated being in the hospital now and she started getting really nervous and anxious every time she was there.
"You can wait outside with a friend of mine. Come on" Sarah said and grabbed Bella's hand.
"Here take this with you. My wallet is in there if you need a drink or something" Emily said handing her bag to Bella. The girl went outside with the doctor and they went to the front desk.
"Raelyn, can you keep an eye on this one for me? Just for a few minutes" the doctor asked the front desk lady.
"Sure. She can sit here with me" Raelyn said.
Sarah went behind the desk and pulled a chair for Bella. The girl sat there and tried to take deep breaths.
"Anything just go get me" Sarah told Raelyn who nodded.
"And you... If you want you can come back okay? Just knock on the door first" she said.
"Okay" Bella said wiping her face as people watched her.
The doctor went back to the exam room and left the girl outside. Bella sat next to Raelyn and her breathing slowly went back to normal.
"Do you want some chips?" Raelyn asked handing a bag of Lays to the girl. Bella took two and handed the bag back.
"We can share" Raelyn said. She felt bad for the girl. She had seen Bella a lot of times in there and she knew what the girl had been through.
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After about 40 minutes Emily walked out of the exam room. They had done a lot of exams and talked for a while.
"Bye" Bella told the front desk lady and ran to her mother.
"Are you okay?" Bella asked.
"Yes. And are you feeling better?" Emily asked and Bella nodded. "Do you think you're well enough to look at some houses?" She asked and Bella nodded again. "Alright" Emily smiled letting go of the hug and grabbing the girl's hand.
They walked to the car and then drove to see some houses.
They ended up looking at two houses about 20-30 minutes from Derek's. Bella liked the big backyard one of them had but overall they didn't really like the houses.
"We'll look at another tomorrow" Emily told the girl as they walked to the car after leaving the second and last house of the day.
"How about some food now?" Emily asked and Bella gave her a little smile. They grabbed some food and then headed home. When they got there, Bella went straight to the bathroom to shower. When she finished, she grabbed her clothes from the sink to put it on but something stopped her. She suddenly felt a need to take a look at her back. She tried using the mirror but she wasn't tall enough. She tried turning her head but failed to get a good view of it all. So she put her clothes on and walked out of the bathroom looking for her mother.
"Mom?" Bella said walking inside the bedroom. But Emily wasn't there. The girl walked to the living room and found Emily watching tv alone. When the woman saw the child she smiled and Bella sat on her lap.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked just knowing something was going on.
Bella looked in her eyes and said "I want to see how it looks like"
Emily just stared at the girl for a while. "See what, baby?" Emily asked.
"My back" Bella said very low.
"Let's go. I'll show you a trick" Emily said standing up making Bella stand and follow her. Emily went to Penelope's room and got a small mirror. She went to the bathroom and placed Bella on a chair in front of the mirror on the wall with the girl's back facing the wall.
"Now look in this" Emily said holding the smallest mirror.
Isabella looked at it and she could see the other mirror reflecting in the small one.
"Now lift your shirt" Emily said and Bella looked extremely nervous and tense. "I'll do it" Emily said just knowing the girl wouldn't.
She lifted Isabella's shirt and Bella looked in the mirror. The child felt her heart pounding fast. She took a deep breath and just let it sink. She felt scared but at the same time relieved that it didn't look as bad as she thought it did.
"You can barely see these ones already" Emily said touching some of the scars and making Bella flinch.
Bella pulled her shirt down and said "thanks" and got off the chair.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked surprised at how fast the girl was done with looking at it.
"Yes" Bella said grabbing the chair.
Emily knew the girl was lying.
She made Bella drop the chair and immediately hugged the child who just sank in her mother's arms. Emily sat on the chair and pulled Bella to her lap.
"It doesn't look bad. You saw" Emily said.
Bella just stayed quiet. She wasn't crying but she was upset.
"It's going to go away, right?" The little girl asked.
"Yes" Emily said. She wished she was 100% sure that would happen but she knew that Bella would have some of those scars for the rest of her life.
"Come watch a movie with me" Emily smiled and they went to the living room. Emily sat with Bella on the couch.
Half way through it, Derek and Penelope arrived.
"How was your day, my love?" Penelope asked as she walked inside.
Emily smiled at her and then looked down at the girl sleeping next her. They had been cuddling and Bella ended up falling asleep just a few minutes after the film started.
Penelope and Derek smiled.
"Did you guys have dinner? We got pizza" Derek said.
"We already ate but I won't turn down pizza" Emily said as he placed the pizza at the center table.
"I'm gonna take a quick shower and I'll be right back" Derek said and headed to his bathroom. Penelope got some soda in the kitchen and then sat down in the living room.
"How long has she been asleep?" Garcia asked.
"About an hour" Emily said.
"Do you think she'll eat?" Penelope asked.
"I doubt it" Emily said. "But I'll ask" she said. Then she ran her hand on Bella's back and said "baby, Morgan got pizza. Do you want to eat some"
Bella moved and blinked. "No" the girl moaned.
Emily and Penelope laughed.
"I should take her to bed" Emily said and smiled. She picked Bella up and the girl woke up.
"Mommy, you can't carry me" Bella said really sleepy but worried.
"It's okay. The doctor said it's fine now" Emily smiled at her daughter.
After hearing that Isabella smiled big and wrapped her arms tight around her mother's neck.
Emily kept smiling and slightly rocked the girl.
"Let's go to bed" she said. "Say goodnight to Penny"
"Goodnight" Bella smiled at Penelope, touching the left side of her face on her mother's right side.
Garcia smiled big as Emily carried the girl to bed for the first time in months.
"Sleep tight Bell" Emily smiled tucking the girl in.
"Night mommy" Bella said with a small smile and turned to the side. The girl was exhausted.
Emily walked back to the living room with a big smile on her face.
"You carried her to bed" Derek smiled when she walked in.
"Yeah. The doctor gave me the all clear" Emily said.
"Good" Derek smiled.
They ate the pizza, finished watching the movie and then went to bed.
Emily walked back in the bedroom and Bella was fast asleep hugging her blanket and Duffy. She smiled. She could never have enough of that. She changed her clothes and then laid next to her daughter and Bella moved closer to her. Emily smiled and closed her eyes.
She was able to relax that night. She was happy. She had a good day. She was right where she was supposed to be.
Right next to her daughter.
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The next day nothing much happened in the morning. Emily and Bella stayed at Derek's house and then Emily took Bella to school around 1pm. The girl had a French test.
"How was it?" Emily asked as they walked out of school.
"Well" Bella said with a small smile. Emily threw one arm over the girl's shoulders and they walked to the car.
"House hunting today?" Emily asked with a smile.
"Sure" Bella said with a small smile. The girl was excited to get a new house and move in with Emily again but she couldn't deny the fact that she was also very nervous.
Emily drove to a house a couple minutes away from the school. They looked around and absolutely hated it.
"Thank you so much. We'll talk and anything I'll call" Emily told the owner.
Emily and Bella got inside the car.
"Did you like that one?" Bella asked as she buckled up.
"Not at all." Emily said making a face. "You?"
"Hated it" Bella said and both laughed.
"We have another one to look at today but I was thinking about grabbing some food and taking to the team before that. Would you like to do that?" Emily asked.
"Sure" Bella said.
Emily drove to Chili's, got some food and headed to the BAU.